The Squeeze

The Squeeze has the pace and plot points of a thriller, and the tension rarely ebbs. It’s also sharply written, and Glaister’s corvid eye for squalor grounds her story skilfully in the queasy humdrum even as the drama ratchets up.

-- Stephanie Cross * Daily Mail *

This is not an easy novel to read and it can’t have been the easiest to write. But Glaister has never shied away from a challenge, and she never disappoints. She may not be the most high-profile writer of her generation, and her unflinching approach to difficult subject matter may be part of the reason for that. But she deserves to be better known.

-- Lesley McDowall * The National *

The Squeeze is not an easy read, not only because of the squalid world where it is set. Glaister’s episodic format has been described as ‘splintered’, a sound adjective for her jagged shards of narrative which jump between past and present settings and tenses. It’s tense and challenging, but we care just enough about Mats and Marta to persist. The ride is a roller-coaster of horror, heroism, violence, love, despair and hoped-for redemption – exhausting, but enriching nonetheless and a journey well worth risking.

-- Elizabeth Hilliard Selka * BookOxygen *

Another cliché, ‘a haunting narrative’, attaches itself to the The Squeeze: it is particularly powerful read against the current political climate, bringing a whole new gravitas to the cliché of global village. It takes the reader well beyond their comfort zone, but it is every bit worth the discomfort.

-- Anna Hollingsworth * Shiny New Books *

This book covers such subjects as sex trafficking post Berlin Wall, marriage, relationships, family ties and criminal underworlds. It was an really intriguing, engaging read and has prompted me to buy pretty much all of Lesley Glaister’s back catalogue. No lie.

* Bookish Ch